Sattar Rigi, a Leader of Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan, Arrested

Pakistani security officials reported on Saturday, March 9, that Sattar Rigi, one of the leaders of the armed group 'Jaish al-Adl' in the border areas with Iran, has been arrested. According to Reuters, Sattar Rigi was apprehended while on a bus in the border regions with Iran by 'Southwest officials' of Pakistan. Southwest Pakistan is a Baloch region that borders Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province. While Reuters referred to the arrested individual as 'Salam Rigi,' the Iranian Deputy Minister of Interior for Security and Police stated to IRNA that the name of the arrested individual is 'Sattar Rigi.' Reuters notes that it is still unclear whether Pakistan will extradite Rigi to Iran. The report indicates that Rigi was arrested 50 kilometers from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in Pakistan, and according to another security official, he did not resist during the arrest. Reuters writes that Sattar Rigi is accused of several terrorist bombing incidents in Pakistan and Iran, as well as sending fighters to Iraq and Syria. According to IRNA, Sattar Rigi is the brother of Abdul Malik Rigi, the former leader of the Jundallah group, who was arrested by Iranian security forces in March 2009 and executed on June 20, 2010. Currently, a person named Salahuddin Farooqi leads the armed group Jaish al-Adl. The arrest of Salam Rigi comes at a time when a member of parliament reported on January 30 about the arrest of 20 members of Jaish al-Adl in Iran. Baqir Hosseini, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, announced that 'after the arrest of 12 terrorists related to the case of teacher assassins, the identification of other elements continued until security forces were able to identify and arrest eight more terrorists through round-the-clock efforts.' According to this parliament member, all the arrested individuals were 'members of Jaish al-Adl.' Iranian news agencies have reported that since the beginning of the current solar year, four teachers have been shot dead in Sistan and Baluchestan. The Iranian Minister of Intelligence also stated on December 5 that the elements of the Jaish al-Adl group and those who have carried out terrorist actions in Iran have been targeted and killed abroad. He specifically mentioned Pakistan and Tanzania. He stated, 'A few months ago, Abdul Raouf Rigi, a military element of Jaish al-Adl, and his nephew were targeted in Pakistan. A person named Sheikh Nadeem, who, along with his brother, killed 15 Pakistani Shiites and two Iranian engineers, was also targeted.' The Jaish al-Adl group has not yet reacted to the arrest of Salam Rigi.